Paranoia
by dead.tribute.no1498
Summary: After months of surviving what seems to be the zombie apocalypse, Ryan is left untrusting of strangers and anyone he encounters on the road. He also makes many of his decisions without thinking. So far, he has only survived the apocalypse because of sheer luck. After being advised by Andrea, should he listen or run away and go back to his nomadic life? -WIP
1. Pilot

**Author's note:**_** Unfortunately, my school year is extremely long (one week early + one week late T_T) Fortunately, I've got many breaks sprinkled in-between so while I'm gone, PLEASE rate and review this first chapter! :D Still figuring out how to make tabbed spaces (really gets on my OCD nerves HURRR)**_

I was looting a remote city's grocery store when it happened. For the past five months, I've been surviving this hellish event by laying low, picking off what I could find. Only I didn't rely on homes for protection; only the trees and rope I trust. Any and everything I need fits into a light backpack I looted. I can only manage to have up to three outfits at a time though. The only things that I've managed not to lose since the start were my cadet cap and my trusty pair of Nikes.

I was rummaging for food when all of a sudden, the back door flew open. Reflexively, I bolt straight out the front door, where the teds were waiting for me. I had absolutely no weapons with me at the time, so naturally I dashed off into the woods for refuge. I only managed a step, when the first ted was shot down. The shot then jump started my next stride, accelerating me into the woods. A deep southern voice called for me to come back. I turned my head to the side and I saw a man in clothing just as gritty as mine. I kept running.  
Then everything went black.  
The next time I woke up, I was back in the grocery store, gauze wrapped around the right side of my face. I bolted into sitting position, only to be set back down. "I was only tryin' to help you," said the man. I didn't reply. I couldn't anyway because a strip of cloth wrapped my head in some sort of strange frame. "You and that tree became good friends the moment I came after you," he said. He was crouched down, faced away from me, rifle pointed out a large hole in the window.  
I spotted my bag set in the entrance to an aisle.  
I got up, slowly, and made my way to my bag. Then, I ran to the back of the store. He must have heard my shoes squeaking against the floor because once I was halfway there, he yelled, "Hey! Git back 'ere!" I then made the same mistake of looking back. I misstepped to my left a tad too much because when I turned back, my head made contact with the stainless steel doorframe.  
The next time I woke up, my right hand was zip tied to the cashier counter, and the cloth that constricted my speech was gone, bandages in its place. There was also another bandage straight across my forehead in a vertical line.  
"If you ain't learned yer lesson yet, I don't know how many times yer gonna have to hit yer head. Now speak to me boy, why do you keep on runnin' away?" he asked. I stayed silent. Then, rashly, he grabbed my throat, growling into my face commanding me, "Talk boy." I stared down into his deep blue eyes. I swept his hand away from my neck.  
Dryly, I managed, "I thought you were out to kill me."  
"Kill you?" he broke out into a hearty laughter that seemed to last for ages, "now why in the world would I do that? I shot down them creatures and yelled for you to come back!" He shook his head, glaring at me from the side of his eye. "Kill you, can you believe this boy. Good lord, why would I fix you up, only to kill you later on?"  
He had a point. Except I was talking about when I ran out the store. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It's just that I have some pretty serious issues with my gut and trusting people," I confessed, attempting to put my hands up. "Now let's get out of here 'cause who knows when the next group of people are coming to loot this place."  
He stared at me for a moment. It was finally then that I noticed his short cut (or at least what used to be short) blonde hair, dressed in a plain white tee and khaki cargo shorts. He then got to cutting my thick zip tie. After minutes of slicing only to make it short of three millimeters, he got out his gun and shot off the zip tie.  
"What are you doing?" I lashed out, "you're going to attract all the teds!"  
"Teds?" he said, cocking his head.  
"That's what I call them. Short for resurrected."  
"Hmm. I haven't really thought of giving these things a name."  
I spotted my bag again behind the cashier desk. I needed to stall him again so I could escape.  
"Yeah," I said, aimlessly, "you know what let's get our butts out of here before the next group decided to rob us stark naked."  
"Fine." He turned slowly and walked even slower.  
"Perfect," I unintentionally said out loud.  
"What?" he glared at me.  
"What?" I said, trying my best to keep my legs steady. "What?" he kept glaring at me. He finally turned around, only to take a quick glance back at me. I leaned back against the counter, raised my eyebrows, and exposed my palms, in a gesture that suggested I was returning yet another "what". He was a few feet away from his belongings. I slowly sneaked over to my bag grabbed the strap, and slid away from him.  
I was half a step away from being hidden by a large shelf when he decided to turn around to say, "You know-"  
Our eyes locked. He glared again, and I sprinted off. I could hear him gaining up on me. I finally learned my lesson, because I knew not to turn back. I rounded the shelf, going back to the front entrance. He was quickly gaining up. Every stride I took, he gained one more. He must have been a trained policeman because in a split second, he managed to jump towards me, grab my legs, and pin me down to the white tiles, elbow forced up against my chin. His weight glued my to the floor. As I fell, my backpack managed to fly off my shoulders and land five feet away.  
His eyes were locked on mine. I pleaded for him to let go of me. He pulled back the hammer on his gun in preparation to shoot me in the head. _Of course Ryan__, cause if he shoots me anywhere else, I'll come back three hours later as a ted._ But, in the three seconds that had elapsed, I heard a gunshot, and blood everywhere. I thought I had witnessed my own death. Then, I thought, that's not possible. Yet another man, only with dark hair, a flannel shirt, and long jeans, with a gun, still smoking from the shot stood at the other end of aisle. I was covered in some stranger's blood.  
The second stranger lifted the first stranger off me. Right as he lost contact with me, I ran off. The first stranger also turned. "Crap," I thought. I grabbed the second stranger's gun, and shot the ted version of the first stranger right in the head. I dropped the gun, grabbed my bag, and flew past the front doors.  
I passed at least three parking spaces when the second stranger came out and yelled, "Come back! I"m not going to hurt you!" I kept running. "Oh no, I'm not taking anymore chances," I thought.  
I reached the forest after at least five minutes of switching between running and jogging. I continued to walk through the woods for at least another ten minutes, when suddenly I screamed out, "CRAP!" I decided it wasn't worth going back to the town. I finally found a pack of saltine crackers in my backpack. It was torturous trying to swallow a single bite down without even a swig of saliva to moisten it.  
After enjoying my makeshift meal under a large tree, I searched the tree for any nubs to assist me in my way to a good branch. I had no luck finding any. I then threw my rope across the nearest branch, tying the ends together to avoid being pulleyed back down. I then slowly made my way up to the top. I pulled the tied end to the top. I untied it, then retied the rope, cinching myself to the tree to prevent myself from falling down, if by chance I happened to fall asleep.


	2. Stranger Things

**Author's note: ****_Okay yes, it's going very quite slowly, but I assure you, if I am well rested, creative, and reviewed, I will try my absolute best to provide you with some saucy (oolala) Walking Dead fanfics. 'Till _****_then._**

I woke up in the morning still hitched up in my tree safe and sound. I untied my rope to get ready for yet another day of nomadic living. I planned to try my luck again in that grocery store. I climbed down the rope to the ground. I rolled it up then put it in my backpack. After passing a few trees towards the town, I heard twigs and leaves crunching. I looked around. There wasn't enough time to climb up these tall trees. I decided to try the traditional, cartoon style method of hiding behind a tree. I tried my best to slide around the tree to stay out of sight of the person. I took a glance around to ensure it wasn't anyone I saw yesterday. To my surprise, it was a woman. She was of dark skin color and had a katana half the length of her body. I instantly took a step back to hide behind the tree as she continued to walk. Thankfully, she was walking away from me. I waited until she was far enough and concealed behind trees. I started to run towards the city. I was starving and desperately in need of food, which meant the grocery store was my only hope.

I paused for moment not only to catch my breath but also because I had a realization. Yesterday I was approached by two people. Today, I saw someone walking away from the city, which meant there were more of them coming. I pushed the thought away. I was only going to be quick.

After fifteen more minutes of walking, I finally made it to the town. This time, when I finally saw the grocery store, there was a large truck parked in front of the door. It had a large array of lights on its roof and its wheels were half the size of an average adult. I ducked behind a tree as what seemed to be its passengers popped out. There were three men, all with M16s strapped to their backs. One of them had an eyepatch around his eye. I turned around concealing myself. There was a road right behind me. I contemplated going back farther into the woods to avoid being seen. They started their car. It was heading in my direction. _Fuck fuck fuck_, I thought. Instead of passing by however, they decided to wing it and drive right by me. Right before I dashed off, I made eye contact with the eye patched man _ha, eye contact, eye is singular, okay just shut the fuck up Ryan 'k?_ _  
_

I decided it was the absolute worst of ways to head towards the grocery shop, which I did exactly without a single train of thought. I heard the car brake. _Ryan, you are the most moronic person I have ever met. _I finally made the rational decision of _not_ going into grocery store. Hopefully I'd make it back. I ran towards a large settlement of homes. _Crap, I hope there aren't too many teds here._ I ran towards a random home. I decided it was irrational to go inside for fear of teds. I ducked under somebody's former porch, backing until I reached the house's foundation. The trio managed to make it to my general location after ten seconds, which felt like ten hours. When they stopped, one of the M16 men came out. He gestured a wave. He then looked at the house in my direction. _God these guys are_ good, I thought, rolling my eyes. When they finally walked onto the porch, one of the men stepped on a board, pushing a nail into my arm.

"Ow god," I said halfway between a whisper and a scream.

"What did you say Michael?" said one of the men.

"What?" said Michael.

"Oh I thought you said something."

"Come on, we have to find this man. He was in the forest so he would have had to have seen Michonne," said a third man.

They closed the door. I thought about the person one of them just mentioned. Connecting the dots, I realized Michonne was the woman with the katana, and that he was right about me seeing her. Had his tone not been very threatening, I would've come out of my hiding place and told him about her. After a few seconds of footsteps and doors being violently opened then slamming, they came out. During that moment, I realized I had forgotten my backpack at the side of the porch with all my supplies. _Crap. _One of the men noticed it.

"Hey Governor, do you remember bringing a Nike one-strapper?"

"No, I do not," he said, laughing a laugh that sent chills down my spine, "I know you're here." I rolled around, and I saw thin slivers of his face through the floorboards. He brought his foot down on the wood floor real hard, causing the wood to crack. He was looking down, but in the wrong direction. He loaded his M16. My eyes widened and I set myself parallel to the concrete foundation. I couldn't slide under it. The man who calls himself the Governor shot up the center of porch. Covering my face, I prayed real hard hoping that he wouldn't find me and that there wouldn't be any teds. After twenty excruciating seconds they stopped shooting, but they didn't move. I began to hear the growl of the teds coming in from around the house. The Governor shot a few more rounds towards the open, appearing to avoid all the teds. _Great, someone who doesn't even know my humble nature wants me dead. How could today get any more better?_ I could hear the men throwing their M16s onto their backs then walking off. They were walking off with my bag. I wanted to scream, but I didn't want them to relish in the success of my frustration. I waited for them to drive until they were out of sight. There weren't any teds within five car lengths of the porch. I slid out through the hole in the porch. It felt strange running without my bag constantly hitting my back. I made it through in time to catch the end of the truck duck into the woods. I sighed. The teds were approaching. I took a deep breath and sprinted towards the store.

When I made it in, it was completely deserted. I found a can of chicken noodle soup. I hunted around for a can opener. I drank down the soup. I didn't have to worry about raw meat since it had already been pre cooked at the factory. It was salty without some water to dilute it. I decided to look for something to help carry food, just in case I get hungry again. Nothing too big or small. I rounded the corner coming back to the aisle where I was nearly killed. The blood stains were still there, but the stranger-who-was-about-to-kill-me was gone. I did find a khaki cloth messenger-style bag sitting near the dairy area. To add to stereotypicality, it was filled with a mish-mash of newspapers and articles. I emptied the papers into a neat stack into a corner. I knew that the owner was never going to return, but oh well, a little stash of pre-ted history would be nice in the future given we make it through this major turning point in human evolution.

I walked through the grocery store. The chest freezer that lined the back was full of decaying meat. I couldn't smell it since they were sealed in vacuum bags. _Huh, maybe when this all ends all this cheese might turn into some sort of thousand dollar parmesan or mozzarella when I come back._ If_ I come back._ I loaded my bag full of dried goods and a few can goods, ensuring I brought my can opener. I decided to walk through the employee section of the market to avoid the teds in the front. After finding the loading bay for the delivery trucks, I checked the surroundings for any teds. They were all heading towards the parking lot. Thankfully the bay was in the absolute back of the store. I dashed off into the road, surrounded by trees.

I began to get an eery feeling walking through the road. The sound of the summer insects was still strong in the air. It was strange hearing no vehicular traffic in the streets, no pedestrians walking around, talking, conversing like they used to. At least in my old town, which I had absolutely no idea in which location was now. I finally realized I could have gotten an atlas or map from the grocery store, but what grocery store sells atlases? It's probably overrun by teds now at this point and I still don't have any weapons. I kept on walking. The sky above was concealed in big and fluffy clouds. Seems like a perfect day in the zombie apocalypse, given this morning's ordeal never happened.

The road seemed to stretch for miles. After at least two hours I detoured into the woods. I went at least five trees deep and found a tree with many branches. I climbed each and every one like a ladder. It was also a rather large tree. When I finally reached the top, I could see what seemed to be a town. Based off the sun, it was about five or six. I couldn't tell for sure because I lost track of the days. I climbed down to a portion of the tree that encapsulated me. I ate a pack of teriyaki jerky then began to doze off.

When I woke up again, it was night time. The moon had just risen in the horizon. I climbed up. I looked toward the town I had spotted in the distance. It appeared to be on fire, but I had to blink a few times to confirm since my vision is always blurry after waking up. Once my vision finally cleared up, it wasn't on fire, but it appeared to be some sort of controlled fire. I wonder what person would be stupid enough to attract teds, but after realizing that insects can't cheer, I grew more suspicious. After awhile, a spotlight similar to the ones you see at the Chinese Theater in former Hollywood went up into the sky. I decided it would absolutely irrational trying to navigate through the roads in the dark. I was surprised this survivor group still survived seeing that all this noise and cues they're giving off is like ringing a dinner bell.

I told myself I would worry about it the next day and investigate the town the next day. I went back down to my nook. After staring up at the sky the cheer finally died down. I noticed how many more stars I could see in the sky because light from other towns didn't pollute the sky. The only constellation I could recognize was Orion. Ever since childhood, that was the only constellation I could find since it was the only constellation that I could see from my small town backyard. That and the Big and Small Dipper. I began nodding off. My eyes closed.


	3. No

**Author's Note: _I hope you thought that last chapter was exciting. Next chapter to come out hopefully this weekend. The Governor is my least favorite character, but he's so essential to plot, it just ugh. Making connections here._**

I slept a dreamless sleep. Today I decided it was time I at least give strangers a chance. I habitually looked for the rope that secured me to a tree for the last half year. I then remembered that the Governor's minion took it. I jumped down from the tree walking towards the road. This time, however, I didn't spot any stragglers. I walked for what seemed to be at least half an hour. Abandoned cars and houses began to appear more often. When trees finally stopped lining the road, except for a few residential oak trees, a large wall came into view. It was of last-minute aesthetic. Various things composed the wall. Stacks of tires and big sheets of corrugated metal fortified it. Directly in front of me, two corrugated metal sheets made the doors. At the top were three people. One with a bow and arrow, the other with a pistol, and the last one with a moderately large-sized machine gun. I ducked behind a house. I could hear the moaning of teds in the far background. I peeked over the edge to see what the group was doing. They were talking indistinctly to each other. A ted came into their view. The female in the group noticed it and immediately shot it with an arrow. She then jumped down to retrieve the arrow, the other two men going down to open the gates. They came back up. I walked back further into the neighborhood away from their sight. I kept walking along with the wall until I came to an open area in the back of the town. I could see floodlights and a ring, which I was guessing was the source of last night's commotion. I stayed at the edge of the treeline.

"Hey! What are you doing out there? This area ?" said someone behind me.

He led me into the city through the the buildings by the ring. The corridors were dark, long, and sharp. We finally came to a two story home overlooking an pedestrian-filled avenue. The sentry sat me down on a chair then left. I contemplated running out, but I didn't want to make a scene. Plus, the two henchmen from yester morning's affair were sitting right on top of the wall just a few yards from here. _God what did you get yourself into now Ryan._ A grandfather clock ticked deeply in the background. I finally thought I should hide somewhere in the room, but I rejected that one too.

"What do think you-" He stopped right when I looked at him, both of us in shock. "Well, well would you looky here."

I glared him in his singular eye.

"You know, you didn't have to run." Déjà vu. Round three. "I just needed to know if you've seen this ... _woman_." He said with a certain disgust in his voice. He walked around then pulled out a piece of paper from a stack of papers. He slapped down an artist's rendition of who I was guessing must have been the "Michonne" he was talking about back at the porch.

"Michonne?" I said, raspy.

"Yes."

I cleared my throat. "Is she the one that did that to your eye?"

"Why yes. Not only that, but she killed my daughter."

"Oh. I-, I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do to he-"

"No, no you're okay. I see me and my men have completely missed you," he said looking up and down my arms. Him bringing up yesterday's ordeal began to chill me. I tried my best to appear to be calm, despite my rising heart rate.

"Ah, you don't have to worry. Now that you're here, you're one of us. Feel free to dine in the fruit of our work. Here, have a drink." He poured himself and me a glass of rum colored liquid.

"Don't worry it's not poisoned," he said, looking me in the eye.

He took a sip. I decided to take a sip.

"So what brought you here?"

"Well, ever since this thing started, I've been trying to hide from teds up in trees, weaponless. I was looting from that part of the city, but I nearly got killed by yet another lone ranger, then he got killed, I ran off, came back, you found me, and you know the rest from there. I decided it was best if I left the city and went for a new one. I heard lots of screaming the other night. What was that all about? Sure love to attract the teds eh?"

"Wait, first let me just say something. Teds?"

"Yeah, the guy who tried to kill me did the same thing. I don't know I just like to call 'em teds. Short for resurrected."

"Creative."

"Your turn."

"Oh right, yeah that event going there last night, it's just a weekend event we have to keep the masses entertained. I still consider this to be a city. Not enough electricity to run a theater."

"Makes sense. I'd love to see it. Only entertainment I've had were some newspapers I found back at the grocery store. That's where I got this dandy bag."

He nodded. "How do you like the tea?"

"Best thing I've had for the last five months after I ran out of non-perishable beverages. Water. Yeah. Him and I are like best friends now."

He laughed, even though friendly it still sent chills down my spine. "Well, if you'd like," he said walking towards a window, me following," you can lodge in those apartments over there. No fee as long as you're the first one there, then it's auctioned off."

"Awesome," I said, completely forgetting about trying to sound a little more mature.

The Governor laughed again. He then sent me out of his apartment and went to check in across the avenue. The thought of a warm bed and not having to twist my ankle getting up into a tree every night got me all psyched up. I put on a smile as wide as Texas. Everybody was staring at me like I was mentally ill. It could either be because I actually was, because I was new, or because I might have been the first person to leave that building either smiling or at all after seeing that temper of his back in the city.

"One room please."

"C3"

I climbed up three flights of stairs because this building was elevatorless without a sufficient amount of electricity. Went I got to my room, I started laughing hysterically for now I finally had a nice, safe, warm, and comfy room to lodge in. There was a moderately large cathode ray in the corner complete with DVD case stocked with DVDs, a sofa at one end, a bed _holy shit_, and in the back a shower with a working toilet _oh my god, I think I'm going to cry_. Attached to the shower curtain was a piece of copy paper saying, "Go easy on the hot water. PLEASE."

"Hot water?" I said out loud, despite no one around to hear me.

I walked around to another section of the apartment. The kitchen lay in front of me, all stocked with gems like Hamburger Helper, macaroni, and, I had to pinch myself, cookies and cake.

"God where do these people get all these things?" I thought, digging through the cake. It was slightly stale, but who fucking cares it's _cake_! After eating at least two relatively large slices of cake, I had to stop myself before I make myself sick. I scurried into the bathroom, stripped off my clothes, and turned on the shower. I shivered at the cold water, but as it eventually grew warmer, my smile grew. Free soap, free food, free entertainment, holy shit tell me I'm not dead! I soaped down and washed off my hair. _Eugh, only God knows what's been living in there for the past six months._

I dried off my hair. I walked to the living area in just a towel. I sat down on a couch. The cloth felt so soft. I turned on the TV to see what was in the DVD player. It was just an average romance movie, but it felt awkward being in just a towel. I didn't feel cold since there was absolutely no AC, which was fine with me because everywhere I've been before the apocalypse started kept their thermostats down to 60._  
_

I never really paid much attention to the movie since I kept flashing back to the start of this whole ordeal.

I remembered when the tornado sirens went off on the clear day back at an airport back in Texas. Yes, I was originally all the way in Texas. I was boarding my plane when they went off halfway between the bridge. The security guard told me to hurry up. I ran into the plane, took my seat then I was off to Georgia. The droning of the jet engines drowned out the sirens. After two hours, the plane touched down in Atlanta. The pilot hadn't told us shit about what happened at the airport. We had to inflate the slide to get down since there weren't any bridges to get into the airport. I still hadn't known what the hell was going on.

I decided to venture into the airport to get my bags, but the glass doors were locked. Someone was standing in front of the doors, standing motionlessly. I knocked on the door for the person to know I was there. God when it turned around, its front side was completely torn out. Then teds started piling up on the doors. I stumbled back, completely shocked.

_No, this can't be._

My parents were already into their seventies and they were trapped in the middle of Atlanta in a luxury condo. I ran away from the plane group and into the city, despite them telling me it was stupid and hopeless. I knew there was no hope. I still kept running. When I reached the large Atlanta streets, teds as dense as mosh pits at metal concerts were packed between skyscrapers.

_You should have listened to them._

They spotted me. Their reaction was relatively slow. First they looked in my direction, then stumbled, then they began to walk. But only I could run. I passed a few teds on the way back to the airport. When I arrived at the airport, there were multiple herds of teds everywhere; they had broken through the glass. The plane group was gone. I left Atlanta before any teds could catch on.

I hid in the forests.

I didn't eat normally for days.

I didn't cry.

I snapped back into Woodbury. The movie plus credits were finished. I tucked my legs in closer, resting my head in between my knees. _It's all over._ _There's no hope._


	4. The New Kid In Town

I got up from the couch and got dressed. I decided to tour the city of Woodbury just to see what it was like around.

When I exited the apartment complex, I was shocked at how many people were around. Women, children, even newly born infants. _Did they have a hospital around here?_ I tried sparking up a conversation with a few people, and they would play along, but every time I mentioned I just arrived or that I was new, they would look at me in horror, pause, and walk away. Some weren't as rash as others, but that was the average reaction. After my observations I decided to just not bring it up. I considered actually going to the Governor and ask what dos and don'ts of Woodbury, but I might learn things just from being here.

I walked into a store just to check out what they had in stock.

"You know, everything here is free," said the clerk after noticing my disgusted face at all the outrageously high priced items.

"What?"

"Oh don't tell me you don't remember! The Governor said everything here is of no value anymore," said the clerk, snickering.

"Of course, of course," I said.

Just for the sake of awkwardness, I picked something off the shelf. It was a five-pack of pencils. I habitually brought it up to the counter.

"Geez man, six months into the regime and you're still in the pre-ap mood."

"Agh, whoops, silly me." I _tried_ to laugh. Hopefully it sounded real enough.

I exited the store. I know I shouldn't be pissed at him; he was just joking around. I stuffed the pencils in my pocket. I decided it was time I checked in with the Governor and figure out what the hell I can do.

I walked up to his apartment. Everyone was staring at me as if I had just dropped all my clothes and walked around stark naked. I slowly and awkwardly knocked on the door. The Governor sticked his head through. He looked around and saw all the people staring at us. He smiled then he ushered me in with his hand.

"Apparently," he took a long pause, "you've shown to the whole entire town that you're new." I just looked at him, dumbfounded.

"Well, I'm sorry, but this town doesn't really accept newcomers, but you're still welcome to stay. Most people get over it. I don't know, it's just a really unusual cliché thing that goes on like rumors in a school."

"Oh, well that's good," I responded, "I'm just curious about everything that goes on here. What things can I do and what things can I not do?" The Governor returned my dumbfounded look.

"Oh, of course I would forget your orientation. We _rarely_ ever get any newcomers. Which I think is strange since you found us by the spotlights last night. Plus, we're on the map. Anyways, before I get sidetracked, if you haven't received word yet, everything's free. That white house there," he directed me to a window and he pointed, "we serve three meals a day. Not many people come since they cook their own food, but you're more than welcome to dine in. When a crime happens, then everything follows the old traditional judicial system. Most laws still apply to, but to more lenient terms. And that's basically it."

"Awesome. Just curious, where do you get your meat and all that?"

"We either loot from abandoned farms, or stores, like where I found you, in grocery stores. We also grow our food too. Everything here is produced here. Mostly. Electricity, tea, you name it."

"That's nice to know."

Soon after, a blonde woman and a stout man wearing John Lennon glasses walked in.

"Well. I think it's time you meet two very nice people, Andrea and Milton." Both exchanged looks and Andrea smiled back at me. I went to shake their hands and told them my name.

"Welcome Ryan, it's good to have another one added to our wonderful city."

"257 now to be exact," reported Milton. I laughed a little.

"You take a home yet?" said Andrea.

"Yup. Apartment C3 across the street," I said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Milton here is the one who mass produces all the tea Woodbury, our only other beverage." Milton just pushed his glasses up, smiled, and maybe attempted to say something.

The grandfather clock gonged. "Anybody up for dinner?" said Milton.

* * *

I followed the trio down to the "white house". The smell of steak hung strongly in the air. There were more people than I thought fit the Governor's description. "Looks like everybody's up for steak," said Andrea. I started to tremble at the thought of having steak again after six long months. My mouth watered. The black charcoal smoke infused with the aroma of steak instantly hit my guts like a baseball bat to the balls. I tried my best to keep myself controlled and not show my weakness. I was mentally crying at the thought of having a hearty American meal once again. Never again did I need to hunt down a pack of saltines, or jerky, or soup, all of the three being on salt levels higher than I could handle.

Everyone began to stare at me again because I moaned as if I was copulating. I looked around in embarrassment.

"What? It's just really good steak?" I tried to manage a smile. I started to laugh, then everyone joined in.

The Governor and Milton all joined in with me at the table I was sitting in with Andrea. The Governor set down two pairs of four beers. I looked at him and said, "Wait, I'm not old enough to drink yet."

He responded, "Remember when I said that some laws were more lenient? Well some laws don't even apply anymore," he leaned in closer, "There's no age limit to anything except for driving." Andrea and the Governor winked in unison. _Awkward._ The Governor opened four beers and distributed them accordingly. We all grabbed our beers and cheered on to another day of survival. Excluding me, they all took a sip.

"Don't be afraid, no one's going to arrest you," said the Governor, laughing. This time, I didn't get chills.

I brought the lip of the bottle closer to my lips. I tipped the bottle and took a relatively large sip. I quickly swallowed. There was a long moment of silence. Breaking it, I finally said, "That actually tastes...good!" We all laughed together and all the people within our vicinity clapped and cheered.

I relished my meal, but the other three ate their meal as if it was any other. When we disposed of our bones and the corn stalks, the Governor said, "You ready to see what entertainment we have?"

A smile creeped around my face. "Definitely."

I followed the three to the back of the city where I was first found. A ring had been set up with fireballs for its lighting and what I called "Hollywood lights" in the back. There were stands arranged around the ring. I quickly took note of the relatively large cage of walkers set in the corner and at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions of the ring. Andrea walked up beside me. "I still don't approve of what's about to happen, but if the people want it, let 'em have it," she said, sighing. The man with one arm, or an arm and a knife arm plus another man walked out, demanding applause from the crowd.

The Governor walked out into the center, yelling, "Which one of these men do you want to see win?"

The crowd cheered on, mixes between Merle and Michael. They were going wild. Two more men with grabbers took out two teds from the cage. The teds overwhelmed at who they should eat first switched between trying to devour the handler, the contestants, and the crowd. The two handlers set the teds right at the border. The amputee began to taunt his opponent. He ran straight into Merle, who took it like a brick wall. "What're you gonna do 'bout it honeybuns?" He socked him in the ribs with his metal-capped arm. _Ooh, that's gotta leave a mark._

Then, all of a sudden, one of the ted handlers was shot, the ted beginning to roam freely. The second one was soon shot, both appearing to be dead. Michael and Merle looked around and ducked into the crowd. A bystander a few feet away from me was shot. The crowd was scattering. Suddenly a smoke bomb went off. I was lost in the fog. I heard the clanking of the ted cage swing open. _Shit. I thought you said this place was safe, Governor._ I noticed I was going in the wrong direction, and I tripped over one of the handlers' body. To add to my misfortune, a ted stumbled onto me. I struggled to keep its jaws away from me. I pushed its head to my side. It tried to pull itself towards me while I tried to scurry away. It grabbed onto my pocket. I soon remembered the pencils I had in the other pocket. _God these things have got a really good grip for being dead._ I managed to rip open the pack. The pencils scrambled everywhere. The ted's head was right next to my leg, and it had its hands wrapped around my thigh. I struggled to reach for a pencil. I took hold of one and drove it right into the ted's skull, right through the eye. It didn't immediately die. I stuck at least two more, one with the first, and the other into the left eye. I was still shocked to see it still hadn't stopped trying to eat me. I took one more pencil and drove it in through its forehead. The ted grabbed for my hands, but as the wooden pencil sunk its way in, its movement ceased. I was left with just one. _Yay._

I got up. The smoke was beginning to clear. Teds were still lurking around me. I encountered at least three until I rammed right into someone, who was armed with a crossbow. We both fell down onto the concrete. I didn't recognize him. I stumbled back, trying to move away from him. I ran backwards, then into the city, while he yelled he wasn't going to hurt me. _I honestly don't know what to say about this._

I finally found my way into the avenue again, but there was a lot of crossfire and more smoke bombs. The cars that littered the streets offered my only protection between the attackers and the defense. I needed to hide behind one more truck before I reached the front of my apartment complex. Another person arrived at the car at the same time as I did. When we turned around, we both jumped back. _Oh my god, it's the second stranger from the grocery store!_ He looked as equally shocked as I did.

"Well, what a coincidence," I said out loud. Right after, I bolted for the apartment doors, but he grabbed my shirt.

"Are you crazy?" he said, teeth gritted, "Get down if you want to keep your head." Someone shot out the glass from the truck. He got up to shoot back in reply. I got up and tried to run for the apartments again.

"Get back here!" yelled the man.

I burst through the doors. I shoved them shut. I climbed the stairs up to my apartment. Under closed blinds, I watched the situation go on through the streets. It seemed like forever until the gun shots finally began to dissipate. The smoke cleared. I soon saw the aftermath of the dispute. I went to the back of my apartment then stripped down to my boxers to go to sleep. Guns again rang through the air as the Governor's men began to neutralize the teds. I stretched out on the bed. I was unable to sleep. I decided to get back into my clothes and head back out and find Andrea or Milton and ask them what happened. When I reached the lobby of the building, the clerk had already gone in. I silently escaped the building. I went across to the Governor's place to see if he was there. When I knocked no one answered. I walked along the sidewalks to see if anyone was still around. Right before I rounded a corner, someone had opened their window. "Get back inside! What are you? Nuts?" I looked at the person for awhile, then I looked to my sides and ran back inside. I followed the same regime as earlier, stripping down. I fell back in bed, staring at the ceiling until I finally fell asleep.

_What a hell of a day, but now it's time to hit the hay._


	5. One Day, One Night

I woke in the morning to more gunshots out in the streets. _What? I thought all the teds were down._ I decided to let it go and went back to sleep. It'll probably be over after a few minutes. Soon after though, a few angry drivers began to honk their horns.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I yelled out.

I went to the window in my living area and peered out to see what was going on. There were wall sentries trying their best to contain the Woodburians. I got my clothes and shoes on and headed outside. Andrea and Milton were out in the crowd trying to calm them down. Right as I stepped off the sidewalk, I heard a woman scream. I looked to my right and to my horror, there was a man being devoured by two teds. Andrea came running over to subdue the two teds. I caught walked over to see the man struggling to keep breathing. We were all staring at him in absolute terror.

A woman walked up to Andrea and said, "Oh my god, somebody help him. Please?"

I watched as Andrea shot looks between her and the man.

"Do something," she continued.

The Governor walked out from his apartment, gun in hand. He shot him straight in the head, then walked away like nothing happened. Everyone of us just stood there, appalled at his behavior. Andrea and Milton walked together into his apartment. During the time they were inside, everyone else began to stir. They started arguing over what they should do. They planned on overthrowing the Governor. Some of them just decided to make plans on sneaking out of Woodbury. I was just standing there, absolutely speechless. While all the commotion was going on, Andrea and Milton came back out.

Milton attempted to get everyone's attention by saying, "Everyone, uh, if I could, if I could have your attention? I need everyo-"

"Alright everybody shut up!" yelled one of the wall sentries.

"Thank you," continued Milton, "The biters on the perimeter have been dispatched, the fences have been repaired, the ga-"

"For now," said the woman from earlier.

"Where's the governor?" said a man in the background. Everyone began to stir again.

"He's, uh, his condition is unsteady, the wound he suffere-"

"Our friends were killed man," said another guy in the crowd.

"He shot Richard! I mean we all suffered? We want answers," said the woman, aggravated. The crowd was growing impatient.

Suddenly, Andrea stood up and said, "You're right Karen, you're right. Every one of us has suffered. We don't even have funerals anymore because the death never stops, and we're never gonna be the same. Ever. So what do we do? We dig deep and find the strength to carry on. We work together and we rebuild. Not just the fences, the gates, the community, but ourselves. Our hearts, our minds. And years from now, when they write about this plague in the history books, they _will_ write about Woodbury," she paused. Everyone began to mutter in optimism. "We persevered," finished Andrea.

Soon afterwards, everyone began a, what seemed awkward to me, hugfest. I played along and returned everyone's hugs. It felt like I was back in Church in my little Catholic community. Only there was no priest. Or singing. Or communion. Or sermon. Well I don't know if you would consider Andrea's speech to be a sermon.

When the hugfest _finally_ died down, I had to resist the urge to just barge in on the Governor and ask what the hell happened to him. Last night he was all fun and games. Today it was like the whole entire town was playing irritating April fool's pranks on him.

I headed back for my apartment, however, I contemplated storming into the Governor's apartment and demanding what the hell he thought he was doing, staying in my apartment and just curling into a ball, watching romance movies, shrug it off like it never even happened, or leave Woodbury and forget all about this place and starve myself out in the wild. I kept walking through the streets scrutinizing just what the fuck I'm going to do. I decided it wasn't worth getting shot barging in on the Governor, and hiding in my apartment would turn me into a white-as-bleach hermit that has completely forgotten how to properly communicate with people. I didn't just want to shrug it off, I _had_ to know what the hell was going on. I reunited with one of the strangers from my first experience in the grocery store for Pete's sake. They even came into Woodbury killing innocent people. What did they have against us anyway? I knew leaving Woodbury would be the absolute last thing on my list. I'm not going back out there only to come back looking like a model of off V Magazine with ribs you can play like a xylophone. _Nope._

I decided to let it go for a little while and I relaxed in the comfort of my apartment for a few hours. For the first time in the four months of survival I actually grew bored again. I couldn't explain why, but back then outside Woodbury's walls I was never bored. I never took naps anymore because I was so wary of the vast amount of teds roaming the land. Even though I was up in trees, I could never be absolutely sure. I even had nightmares of being stranded in a lone tree and being surrounded in a sea of teds, all the other trees that provided my escape at the very edges, my tree shaking and splitting from the sheer force of the teds, their hands inching oh so closer every second that elapsed. I needed myself to find something other than the depressing thoughts of the new ted reality.

I thumbed through two shelves of DVDs. _Casablanca. I can't even describe how many times I used to watch that movie with..._ My thoughts trailed off every time I passed by classics my parents owned. I shoved all the movies back in. _This is not helping. At all._

I walked back out into the avenue. Everything and everyone had resumed their average daily tasks. Or at least what I thought was their daily tasks. I walked into a corner only to be stopped by a wall sentry who asked me why I wasn't out by town hall. I gave him a dumbfounded look, then said I'd be there, and we nodded off.

* * *

I joined the others in front of the town hall where we had eaten dinner last night. I was really curious as to what was going on, but I resisted the temptation of asking someone. Andrea and, instead of Milton, a woman were standing next to each other off to the side. There were indistinctly talking to each other, the other lady with a nervous look on her face. While I was looking around, dumbfounded, the Governor walked in, smiling like he did last night. Milton was right at his side. The Governor was checking us all out.

"All able-bodied people. Very good Milton."

The both stopped at an elderly woman wearing a gown.

"Uh, this is Mrs. McClowell. She is suffering from arthritis," said Milton. Everyone was looking at the two.

The Governor held her hands, rubbing them. Patting her on the shoulders, he said, "I'm sorry Mrs. McClowell, but we'll find something better for you. Thank you though."

She nodded. The Governor continued down the line. Everyone, including me, watched tensely as he eyed each and every one of us. He nodded, smiling. He then began to start discussing something indiscreetly with Milton. I could hear it, but I couldn't understand a single word they were saying. A sentry named Martinez all motioned for us to get back to work. _Get back to work? What? Where have I been, hullo. _I asked around to see who needed help with what. I was turned down the first few times, but then someone came and said they needed help with loading guns into a truck. I came up to a group of four.

"Hey you needed help right?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure," said a relatively tall black man.

"Awesome." We kept loading different assortments of guns into the trunk.

"You don't seem to be from around here, do you?" asked the lady standing next to the earlier man.

I leaned in, "No I'm not. Just got here the other day. What about you?"

"Well some psycho kicked us out of his camp the week before. Eh, wouldn't want to be staying in some dingy, old jail all the time," said another guy.

"Oh, well that's gotta stink," I added.

"Before we carry on this conversation, we at least have to know each other's names," laughed the woman, "I'm Sasha," she said, shaking my hand.

"Tyreese," said the tall one.

"Allan," said the other man. A teen walked up. "This is my son, Ben." He waved.

"Your turn," said Tyreese.

"Oh, I'm Ryan. Ryan Long."

"Nice to meet you," Ben loaded a box of pistols into the trunk, "Where'd you come from before you made it to Woodbury?"

"Well I've been all around. I was originally in Texas, pre-apocalypse, but got stuck in Atlanta after my flight. Then somehow I was taken to Woodbury. Nomadic. Living in trees. The such."

They all laughed.

"Hey get back to work," yelled Martinez. We all nodded.

"What about y'all? Where did you come from?"

"We originally came from a larger group, seventy-five at one point. Now it's just us," said Tyreese. Allan was looking downcast.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, attacked by a huge herd of biters," said Ben.

"Man, that must stink."

"Let's get back to work guys, Martinez is about to come over here and force us back to work," said Sasha.

We finished loading all the guns. They filled up half the capacity of the pickup. _I wonder where the Governor gets all these guns god._ Martinez came over towards.

"Good job guys. Let's get in the truck."

He got into the driver's side. Everyone buckled themselves in.

We took a long boring ride through the countryside. _Ooo look, and old barn. Ooo look, an emaciated cow corpse being consumed by a herd of teds._

I decided to spark up a conversation to keep myself from dozing off.

"Hey. Martinez."

"What you want kid?"

"Where are we goin'?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

"Psch."

The Governor stopped his pickup at least two miles after our unsuccessful small-talk. All the other cars halted. Everyone walked out onto the road. The Governor stared at everyone with cold, unfeeling eyes. He raised his gun. My eyes widened and I ducked down under the truck, Martinez and his buddy climbing back into the truck, locking the doors.

_**To Be Continued...**_

_****_**Author's Note: _I will be taking a short hiatus from just _this_ story. I will be starting yet another one soon. Over the weekend I discovered my friend writes fanfics too (holy shit) and we have been critiquing each other's work, so this new story will include the advice of said friend. 'Till then, toodleloo._**


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